When it comes to seaside holidays it is location that counts; and Weymouth, wrapped around by Dorset’s Jurassic Coast – England’s first and only natural World Heritage Site – basks in a setting unmatched by any other south coast resort.
Visitors have been flocking to its golden sands ever since 1789, when Mad King George III took his first royal dip in the briny, using a newfangled bathing machine – a kind of beach hut on wheels. Although he didn’t know it, as he emerged from the waves while a band played God Save the King he had put Weymouth on the map, and turned sea bathing into a national pastime.
With its elegant Georgian seafront, best sandcastle beach ever and a harbour deep enough for Channel Island ferries, Weymouth is no run-of-the-mill seaside resort. Radipole Lake – an RSPB reserve of whispering reeds and flights of wildfowl – reaches into the heart of the town, and at Portland Harbour is the National Sailing Academy, where the main Olympic events will be staged.
All 4,600 tickets for the main viewpoint at the Nothe Gardens were snapped up long ago. You could watch from the Smugglers’ Inn at Osmington Mills or Furzy Cliffs at Bowleaze Cove, but all you will see are small white triangles.
Far better to head for the two giant screens on the beach, which have an accompanying commentary so you will know exactly what is going on. There’s enough room for 15,000 people and it is free, although you will be clicked in through the turnstiles to avoid overcrowding.
Rising behind the Olympic village is England’s Gibraltar – the Isle of Portland. An island in name only, this four-mile slab of solid limestone is joined to the mainland by Chesil Beach. It’s a weird place, bleak and windswept, with a prison at one end and a lighthouse at the other. Half of London, including St Paul’s Cathedral and the Banqueting House in Whitehall, was dug from its quarries.
Peregrine falcons patrol its cliffs and the tidal race streaming south from Portland Bill is one of the most powerful in Europe, flinging up steep, confused waves that come at you from every direction. From the New Ground car park near the Portland Heights Hotel you can follow an eight-mile coastal walk right around the island with glorious views.
Westward lies Chesil Beach, one of the geological wonders of the world, a giant bank of sea-heaped pebbles connecting Portland to the mainland at Wyke Regis and then sweeping away in an unbroken curve with hardly so much as a beach hut to spoil its tawny symmetry.
Events
Olympic torch relay in Dorset: July 12-14
Olympic sailing: July 29-Aug 11
Paralympic sailing: September 1-6
Spirit of the Sea: Weymouth & Portland Maritime Festival, June 30 to July 15. Two weeks of sport, cultural events and a spectacular carnival procession coinciding with the Dorset Seafood Festival (01305 208714; spiritofthesea.org.uk).
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